Feminism in ”The Story of an Hour”

The Story of an Hour is an interesting short story about Mrs. Mallard who suffers from heart disease and her sister tries to tell her that Mr. Mallard died in a railway accident. Louise Mallard feels the freedom in the air after the news but this feeling does not last long. She dies when she sees her husband coming home unharmed. It is rather an interesting feminist story about stereotypical prevailing ideas about women. The story reflects upon a critical matter in society which is the fact that women indeed do not need a man to be complete. 

The author develops the theme of the story through the description of the psychological state of the people in the story. Mainly, through the state of Mrs. Mallard when she receives the news of her husband’s death. She gradually gets from sorrow to fear of the unknown and reaches, in the end, a mental state of happiness and a dominant feeling of freedom. 

”There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name.”

The author in this way illustrates how Mrs. Mallard, who represents women, is uncertain about her future because of her husband’s sudden absence. This uncertainty becomes a powerful factor that makes her feel the strength and freedom later. 

However, Mrs. Mallard recognizes the freedom in the air and how she did not love her husband that much when he lived. Simply, it just feels better without him and she feels the strength to live on her own and not for anyone else. She can do it without him or, symbolically, without any other man. In the end, she accepts the matter and feels good about living for herself. Yet, this happiness turns out to become occasional when her husband shows up unharmed and she dies. The fact that she dies because of ”the joy that kills” is a symbolic issue. This can be interpreted in two ways. That is, she died because of her shock that her freedom will not last forever or because of the excessive joy when she thought that Mr. Mallard was dead. 

The short story reflects upon a strong feminist perspective of how women do not need men in their life to become free and complete. On the contrary, they need to live for themselves to feel the strength and the freedom.